actuate
Americanverb
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to put into action or mechanical motion
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to motivate or incite into action
actuated by unworthy desires
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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actuationnoun
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deactuateverb (used with object)
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actuatornoun
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self-actuatingadjective
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unactuatedadjective
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has actuatedperfect 3rd person singular
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have actuatedperfect
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has been actuatingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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actuatingparticiple
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are actuatingprogressive
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is actuatingprogressive 3rd person singular
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actuatessingular 3rd person
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am actuatingprogressive 1st person singular
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have been actuatingperfect progressive
Past
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had actuatedperfect
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was actuatingprogressive singular
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had been actuatingperfect progressive
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actuatedsimple
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were actuatingprogressive plural
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actuatedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of actuate
First recorded in 1590–1600; from Medieval Latin āctuāt(us) “reduced to action” (past participle of āctuāre ), equivalent to Latin āctu(s) ( see act) + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
To actuate is to put into motion. The "act" in actuate can remind you of this word's meaning — to put into action. A lever might actuate a pump, or malice might actuate a crime. Coming to us from the Latin word actus, which means "to act," actuate's meaning is simpler than it sounds — it just means to set in motion or activate some kind of motion. Think of one of those complex Rube Goldberg mouse traps; you know, the one where the boot kicks the ball that drops on the plank that tips over the ladder which rings a bell that cracks an egg that knocks over the cage onto the unsuspecting mouse. The boot actuates the whole shebang.
Vocabulary lists containing actuate
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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The Federalist Papers, No. 1 by Alexander Hamilton
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The Federalist Papers, No. 10 by James Madison
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Another, called a McKibben actuator, is pneumatically driven and requires an air compressor to actuate.
From Science Daily • Oct. 26, 2023
For starters, you can adjust the point at which its switches actuate and register a keypress.
From The Verge • Jun. 22, 2022
"My task was to design the means of allowing a customer, and only a genuine customer, to actuate the dispenser mechanism," he said.
From BBC • Oct. 7, 2016
Screens were mostly resistive, that is, hard to actuate with a tap.
From Forbes • Apr. 25, 2011
These were enforced by considerations of the dangers which attended her voyage from storms and from enemies, and from the tendency to revolution and war which seemed to actuate all the nations of Europe.
From Ormond, Volume III (of 3) or, The Secret Witness by Brown, Charles Brockden
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
